Bad Dads Film Review

Bad Dads Film Review heads to the Italian Riviera this week for The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) — a sun-drenched, jazz-soaked psychological thriller where gorgeous people do terrible things, and the worst person in the room still somehow isn’t the guy committing the murders.
We follow Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a small-time grifter with big social ambitions, who’s handed a golden ticket: travel to Italy and convince trust-fund prince Dickie Greenleaf (prime Jude Law, unfairly beautiful) to come home. Tom doesn’t just want Dickie’s friendship — he wants Dickie’s life. And once he’s tasted that world of money, effortless charm, and endless leisure, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to stay in it.
What we talked about
“Great Gatsby, but murderous”: Tom as the outsider who doesn’t just observe the rich — he tries to become them (and wear their face if needed).
The grift mechanics: the Princeton jacket con, the “research” phase, practicing mannerisms and music tastes, and how the film turns impersonation into a craft.
The seduction of wealth: why you’re weirdly happy to watch Tom infiltrate a circle of vapid, obscenely privileged characters.
Obsession and desire: the homoerotic undertones, Tom’s fixation on Dickie, and how the film frames identity as something you can steal… if you’re ruthless enough.
Set-piece escalation: the boat trip and the brutal turning point; the forged signatures, dual hotel check-ins, staged evidence, and the constant “one more lie to cover the last lie” tension.
Freddy as the threat (Philip Seymour Hoffman): the first person with enough real-world instincts to sniff out “new money” fraud — and what happens when he pushes it.
The ending sting: Tom “gets away with it”… but the price is isolation, paranoia, and the realization that the spoils aren’t worth much when you can’t live as yourself.
Aging and attitudes: how the film plays in 2026 — including a chat about whether some of the sexuality/“homosexual as threat” framing feels dated.
Plus: we somehow opened with a Top 5 Mats segment that should not work… and absolutely does.
Standard Bad Dads warning: spoilers throughout, strong language, and the kind of moral compass that’s been left outside on a bath mat since the Blair government.
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The premise (simple, but the film isn’t):
A privileged but messy NYC teenager, Lisa (Anna Paquin), causes a moment of distraction that leads to a bus hitting and killing a woman (Allison Janney). In the immediate aftermath she lies to the police—claiming the light was green—helping the driver (Mark Ruffalo) avoid consequences. The rest of the film is Lisa spiralling through guilt, grief, anger, and a need to “make it right,” while the city and everyone around her keep moving.
What we talked about:
Peak New York energy: classrooms full of political debate, constant noise, constant arguing, constant opinion. It feels like a movie made by New York about New York.
The accident scene is brutal and effective: the sound design, the “oh God she’s under the bus—no she isn’t” reveal, the shock of the detached leg detail.
Lisa as a catalyst/chaos engine: she’s manipulative early (cheating, playing people), then becomes obsessive—fixated on getting the driver off the road.
Adults failing her, repeatedly:Her mum is emotionally absent (Broadway ambitions, new relationship), and the mother–daughter conflict goes nuclear (including a shocking insult).
The system shrugs: the driver is exonerated, and later the legal route becomes a cold negotiation rather than “justice.”

The legal thread: the case can only move via next-of-kin dynamics; settlement money becomes the lever; but discipline for Ruffalo’s driver is off the table because it implies guilt.
Matt Damon “week” irony: Damon is barely in it—yet appears in the trailer—making the pick feel like a forced “hipster” choice.
The uncomfortable Damon subplot: a teacher boundary-crossing storyline that lands badly and makes the film feel grimier, not deeper.
Performances / cast notes:
Big ensemble, lots of “oh wow, they’re in this” energy: Paquin carries it; Ruffalo is an outright asshole; Allison Janney’s presence is seismic even with limited time; plus Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick, and more orbiting the core. 
Pacing / vibe:
Overlong, heavy, and (for us) pretentious rather than profound—with the most compelling parts being the accident’s immediacy and the moral rot that follows. Theatrical cut runs about 149 minutes, with a longer 186-minute extended cut also out there. 
Verdict from us:
Lukewarm-to-negative recommend. Strong craft and acting in places, but frustratingly long, emotionally abrasive, and not remotely worth it as a “Matt Damon week” entry.
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We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

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This week’s pick is Train Dreams: a quiet, meditative Netflix drama adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella, following the life of Robert Grainer (Joel Edgerton) — a logger and railroad worker drifting through early 20th-century America. It’s the kind of film that feels like a memory: sparse dialogue, heavy atmosphere, and a sense of time moving faster than any one person can keep up with.
The opening sets the tone immediately: rail tracks, a tunnel, Will Patton’s voiceover, and an image that pays off later — boots nailed to a tree, slowly swallowed by nature. From there it’s a whole life in fragments: brutal work camps, quiet domestic joy, sudden violence, and the long, haunted aftermath of loss.
What we talked about
A “Western” that isn’t really a Western — frontier vibes at first, then you realise you’re watching the world modernise around one man who can’t.
Work as a lifetime trap: logging season, railroad labour, the “build it for someone else” feeling, and the way corporations just roll on regardless.
The Chinese labour thread and the early sequence where a Chinese worker is taken and thrown from the bridge — and how that moment sits with Grainer for decades.
William H. Macy as the old explosives guy: funny, weary, and then brutally, pointlessly lost.
The wildfire: Grainer racing home, the cabin gone, wife and daughter gone off-screen — and the film refusing to give closure, so you feel the same unresolved grief he does.
The recurring motif of time erasing everything: the boots, the forest reclaiming, bridges made obsolete, progress moving on without sentiment.
The late-film whiplash into modernity: Grainer seeing spaceflight on a shop-window TV, then taking a plane ride — an old man briefly touching the future.
Nick Cave over the end credits, and how the score and natural lighting carry the whole thing.
Verdict
A beautifully shot, melancholy life-story film: quiet, heavy, and surprisingly moving. Joel Edgerton is superb, and the movie’s best trick is making the audience feel the scale of time — and the smallness of one person inside it.
Strong recommend, especially if you’re in the mood for something reflective rather than plot-driven.
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We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

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This week we head into full remake territory with Doug Liman’s glossy, bone-crunching update of Road House. Jake Gyllenhaal steps into Patrick Swayze’s boots as Dalton: a drifter, ex–UFC fighter, and walking concussion who takes a job cleaning up a Florida Keys bar where violence isn’t a possibility — it’s a nightly guarantee.
From the opening underground fight circuit to the neon chaos of the Road House itself, the film wastes no time establishing its tone: sunburnt, hyper-kinetic, knowingly ridiculous action with a wink. Dalton isn’t just muscle — he’s a philosopher-bouncer trying (and often failing) to de-escalate a town addicted to throwing punches.
What we talked about
The remake question: why revisit a cult classic, and does this version justify its existence?
Gyllenhaal’s performance — shredded, funny, and oddly charming as a smiling human weapon
The bar as a war zone: nonstop fights that feel both brutal and cartoonish
Doug Liman’s direction and the slick, CG-enhanced fight choreography
Conor McGregor as the chaos agent villain — distracting stunt casting or perfect cartoon henchman?
The movie’s throwback 80s energy: big action, simple stakes, zero realism
The strange lack of romance in such a sweaty, hyper-physical film
Streaming vs cinema: whether this deserved a theatrical release
Verdict
It’s loud, dumb, stylish, and fully aware of it. Road House doesn’t try to outthink the original — it turns the dial toward modern action excess and lets Gyllenhaal carry the vibe. Not high art, but a breezy, violent crowd-pleaser that knows exactly what it is.
Strong recommend if you want neon-lit mayhem, broken bones, and a remake that leans into its own stupidity instead of apologising for it.
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We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

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This week Sidey watched Roof Man on a flight—and it turned out to be a surprisingly breezy true-crime oddity: part heist caper, part rom-com, all built around one ridiculous (but real) idea.
What it’s about
Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey Manchester, a struggling Army vet and dad who turns his “situational awareness” into a criminal superpower. His method is brutally simple: hammer through roofs, drop in overnight, hit fast-food joints for cash, vanish. After dozens of robberies he finally gets caught—then pulls off a genuinely wild prison escape and goes to ground in the last place you’d expect… a Toys “R” Us.
What we talked about
The appeal (and absurdity) of the “roof entry” MO—and why it’s terrifying in real life
The prison escape: routine, observation, and one perfectly timed delivery run
Living in plain sight: how the Toys “R” Us hideout becomes a weird little home base
The moral wobble: the film frames him as charming, but these are still violent, traumatic crimes
The Kirsten Dunst factor: why she works here, and how the romance complicates everything
Why it’s a great “plane movie”: short, watchable, and doesn’t outstay its welcome
Verdict
A light, easy watch with solid performances and a bizarre true-story hook—even if the tone sometimes smooths over how grim the real-world version would feel. Strong recommend if you want something fun-adjacent and fast-moving (especially at 30,000 feet).
You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!
We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

Until next time, we remain...

Bad Dads